After four seasons at Cal Poly, Kobe Sanders announced yesterday via social media that he will be heading to the University of Nevada for his graduate season.
This announcement was made after his best season at Cal Poly. During the regular season, Sanders ranked third in the Big West in scoring, averaging 19.6 points per game. After the season concluded, he was selected as an All-Big West Honorable Mention.
The 6-foot-8 guard made a near 13-point jump from his junior season.
Additionally, this came after Cal Poly parted ways with Coach John Smith on March 1. Sanders was part of Smith’s first recruiting class and were together for four seasons. Sanders and the Mustangs concluded their 2023-2024 regular season with a 4-28 record and went 0-20 in the Big West.
According to Jamie Shaw, an On3 college basketball national recruiting analyst, Kobe Sanders ranked No. 9 on Shaw’s “Top 10 Players In the Transfer Portal” board on March 20. At that point, roughly 600 players were already in the portal looking for a new school.
Sanders received attention from major Division I programs once he entered the transfer portal.
Some of these basketball programs include Nevada, Santa Clara, UNLV, SDSU, UCLA, USC, LMU, Arizona State, New Mexico, Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Arkansas, Miami, Georgetown, Xavier, Iona, Virginia Tech and Virginia.
Although, when Sanders came down to making a decision, he wanted to be a part of the Wolf Pack.
“I loved what Steve Alford and Coach Neal are doing over there. They are building a great culture and community,” Sanders told Mustang News. “The Mountain West conference was big this year, proving to be one of the top conferences in the country. The fit in playing style and with my versatility, my skill set will shown in many different ways in the offense, on and off the ball. I will also be able to show a higher level of defense.”
Sanders will join a squad that recently competed in the NCAA tournament against Dayton on March 21. Nevada lost that matchup 63-60 in the first round.
The Wolf Pack landed one of the best players from the Big West Conference. Kobe Sanders scored over 1000 points over the course of his career at Cal Poly and ranked 45th among NCAA Division 1 players with an 87.4 percent free-throw percentage. Sanders also put up double-digit performances in all 29 appearances and had six 30-point outings in the 2023-2024 season.
Looking ahead for the Mustangs, the team is ushering in a new era. Cal Poly announced on March 26 that the school would hire former Colorado Mesa head coach Mike DeGeorge.
DeGeorge will be introduced in a press conference in the lobby of the Performing Arts Center on Thursday, April 4 at 10 a.m.
For Sanders, he is the first Mustang to transfer to a Mountain West school since Junior Ballard made the switch to Fresno State after the 2019-2020 season.